An Englishman of forty years residence in Wales pontificates about politics (slightly off-message), films and trivia. Secretary of Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats. Candidate for Neath in the Westminster elections of 1997 & 2017 and the Welsh general election of 2016.

Sunday, 19 April 2015

Leicester child abuse footnotes

Ian Pace has, since my item of two days ago, drawn our attention to a number of counter-precedents. It seems to me that in all these cases the defendant, though impaired, was in a position to instruct counsel which seems to be the legal test. Greville Janner is said to be in the final stages of dementia, requiring round-the-clock care. His family can also call upon the best legal teams to defend their interests, which clearly was not so in the other cases cited. I imagine the DPP had in mind, in addition to the Serafinowicz precedent, the cost to the public purse of a costly action whose outcome was uncertain when she made her decision.

The pdf of the Kirkwood Inquiry, referred to in the Liberal England blog, turned up some intriguing leads. Frank Beck's predecessor John Moseling had a similar background and, as it turned out, similar predilections. It could be a coincidence, or it could be that there was someone already in place in Leicester in 1970 who was ready to provide employment to paedophiles.